China: Party Tricks

Check out the accompanying pdf and chart collection. Executive Summary: China’s recent efforts to stimulate its economy are likely too little too late after a decade of capitalism-eroding policies under President Xi Jinping, a huge property bubble, and a rapidly aging population. August’s economic data do show green shoots of revived growth from the stimulative policy initiatives recently enacted, but not convincingly enough to reinvigorate China’s stock market or global commodity markets. The copper price in particular is highly sensitive to China’s economic situation, but its range-bound price action suggests Dr. Copper is not impressed. … Moreover, China’s forward revenues and earnings metrics have been trending downward since 2014, suggesting that China peaked back then.